Chandrapur Municipality has been searching for the encroached historical 'Rajkulo' for years. The municipality has issued a notice to restore the Rajkulo, which was buried under roads and houses due to encroachment. The destruction of the nearly 50-year-old Rajkulo has affected the main source of irrigation in the northern part of the district.

According to the residents, this Rajkulo was once the basis for irrigating fertile land and quenching the thirst of Raithane. The aim was to increase food production by providing irrigation to the cultivable land for twelve months. Now this canal is almost destroyed. The municipality has issued a public notice requesting the removal of the physical structures and roads built by encroaching on the Rajkulo and vacating the land of the canal. The notice has warned that if the encroachment is not cleared within the specified period, the structure will be demolished by using a dozer and the cost of the same will be recovered from the concerned party.

The municipality had asked the encroached structures to be vacated within 35 days on April 24. Mayor Sanjay Kumar Kafle said that since the historical Rajkulo has been destroyed, it will be challenging to restore it to its original condition. ‘The work of destroying the Rajkulo, which is about 5 kilometers long from the Chandi River to the south, has been completed,’ he said, ‘We have already started the work of searching for the existence of the Rajkulo. Even now, the culvert is clearly visible on the map.’ Even though the map is still alive, houses and roads have been built on the culvert.

This culvert was the basis for farming for the residents of Chandranigahpur and the surrounding areas. Locals say that encroachers have set their sights on the culvert after the price of land skyrocketed with the start of urbanization. According to them, the culvert was important not only for irrigation but also for controlling flooding during the rainy season. Now, concrete houses have been built on the culvert in many places. Somewhere, the signs of the canal have been erased by expanding the road. Mayor Kafle said that there is no alternative to reviving the royal culvert to organize the drainage and irrigation system within the city. He said that efforts are being made to return public property that has been lost for decades. ‘The royal culvert is visible on the map, but houses and roads are visible on the ground,’ he said, ‘The culvert will be drawn based on old records and maps.’

Mayor Kafle said that it will be a political and administrative challenge for the municipality to remove those who have settled by destroying the culvert.

‘The practice of fulfilling personal interests by encroaching on public property has been erasing history,’ said civil society leader Yogendra Yadav, ‘If the royal culvert can be revived, it will greatly help the agricultural and environmental balance here.’ The municipality has alerted through information in the first phase. In the second phase, it is preparing to deploy a team including an Amin to demarcate the boundaries. Locals say that the discovery of Rajkulo is expected to set a standard in good governance and protection of public property in Chandrapur.

Till a decade ago, water flowing from the head of the Chandi River here used to reach farmers' fields through culverts and panis at various places. More than 100 public culverts and panis built in the southern part of Chandrapur through Tekan and Chidiyadaha have been built in the name of plotting. Despite being mentioned in the map of the survey office, plotting entrepreneurs are now selling land by constructing roads and selling land.

There was widespread opposition to the plotting of old panis in the Chandrapur Hospital area. Businessman Santosh Kumar Chaudhary has plotted a 14-foot panis located on the northern side of his private land in Jhanjhanetol, Chandrapur-6, by constructing a plot of two decades ago. It is estimated that there are more than 200 culverts and panis in this area. Now, less than a hundred remain. After the work of destroying the canals in places, farmers have started collecting water by placing private pump sets in their fields. Except for the Bagmati irrigation canal and branches, all the canals have been destroyed.